This article is part of Football League World’s ‘Comment’ series, this content strand is where the author of the article issues their personal opinion on the topic at hand....

Ollie Watkins netted a hat-trick as Thomas Frank's Brentford side came from behind to beat Championship strugglers Barnsley with a 3-1 victory on Sunday afternoon.

Cauley Woodrow curled home a fine strike inside the opening minute to give Barnsley a dream start, but Brentford soon found their groove with Watkins scoring once before half-time before adding another two in the second period.

The win provides Brentford with a timely boost after failing to win their last two matches, which included a 2-0 defeat to Preston and a disappointing goalless draw at home against a rock-bottom Stoke City side.

The Bees looked much more fluid as an attacking unit at Oakwell during this encounter, while they also highly benefitted from the in-form presence of Watkins who was clinical in front of goal for the West London outfit.

This up-turn in fortunes can also be owed to an important tactical switch made by Frank ahead of the Barnsley match, and it is a wonder that the Brentford boss did not make this change even earlier in the campaign.

Brentford have become renowned for their use of wing-backs in recent times with this being Frank's go-to formation throughout last season, but he chose to field a back four at Oakwell and this proved to be of enormous benefit to his players.

The Dane deployed a 4-3-3 formation which saw Pontus Jansson and Jean Jeanvier line up at centre-back with Rico Henry and Henrik Dalsgaard either side of them at full-back, and this set-up added a great deal more balance to the side.

The newly formed back four not only gave Brentford a solid base to work from, but it also increased their threat in the final third and enabled more players to get forward during attacks.

Frank had previously been trying to build and bright and attacking side while playing with two holding midfielders, and even though this sometimes worked, there always seemed to be something not quite right.

The 4-3-3 formation helped to establish a much more balanced midfield with a plentiful supply of attacking outlets going forward, while it also reinforced the defence and equipped the side for any Barnsley breaks.

Frank's side may have fallen behind following Woodrow's excellent goal early on, but they went on to record more possession than their opponents and largely dictated play at Oakwell.

The benefits of this new system were clear to see during Brentford's impressive victory. While Barnsley did indeed come across an in-form Watkins, the 23-year-old was permitted the chance to thrive as a result of Frank's brave tactical adjustment.